"In a weird way, his no-no, which came with just one walk and six Ks, shows why he's not worth owning at this point: you never know when he's going to throw a gem or get lit up, but he's almost certainly going to get lit up more often than he's going to throw a gem."

To expound a little further, Lincecum has had poor overall numbers for three years running now. But because of his two Cy Young awards and strikeout ability, there's always been some sucker of a fantasy owner willing to give him a chance.

And Lincecum almost always rewards that generosity by doing more harm than good. Sure, sometimes you get a gem (like the two no-hitters), but other times you get the five-walk, 102-pitch, 5.1-innings performance. And good luck trying to plan for it – Lincecum can dominate or be dominated against anyone.

So, when Lincecum throws a no-hitter against weak-hitting San Diego, you think, "OK, I can just stash him and use him in favorable matchups." (That could happen next week when Timmy gets the Cardinals at home before visiting the Padres.)

But remember the start against Arizona at home, when he gave up seven runs on April 9. And when he faced the Padres on April 20 and gave up 10 baserunners and three runs in six innings. Or when he gave up 10 baserunners and four runs in 4.2 innings on May 7 against the Pirates. Of course, there was also the time he faced the mighty Rockies and only allowed three hits, two walks and two runs in six innings (June 13). You get it.

Lincecum has actually had a more discernible pattern to good/bad starts this year, starting with his home (3.19/1.16) and road (6.68/1.67) splits, but anytime you use him, you're flipping a coin.

And flipping a coin is only fun when you can do the old "Heads-I-win-Tales-you-lose" routine to a dimwitted friend.